Comfortably Numb
by sharksfan17
Summary: Katherine Riddle is running away from her horrid past, she does everything she can to change her old self, her appearance, name anything that she can. When she arrives at Ipswich, she meets new friends and an  intriguing blonde that keeps her puzzled.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! Its me! I'm finally back! I hope that you like this new story i've been working on! Its my first one in third person, so let me know how im doing!

I sadly dont own anything but Katherine.

For once in her life, Katherine Riddle wanted to be normal. She wanted a normal life and friends. Both of these she didn't have. She would barely leave her house, she was afraid, deathly afraid. Her schedule was simple; go to school, come home from school, do homework and study. For seventeen years that is all she did. All she could do. Hopefully that would all change for her, she had just moved across the country to a little town called Ipswich. She was going to try and be more outgoing actually have more friends than her dog, Jake. Something was screaming in the back of her mind that she couldn't make friends, she needed to be alone. She didn't want anyone getting hurt because of her. She was lying on her new bed. So far she liked it much better than her old one. This one seemed much more comfortable. She had only slept in it for one night. Still not adjusted to the time change, she had gotten out of bed, ready to face the last semester of her senior year. She put on jeans and a red long sleeved sweater with beige Ugg boots. She walked around her room, trying to get ready for her day, but Jake was making that almost impossible. She put a black jacket over her sweater and grabbed her school supplies before heading out the door.

Katherine would be lying if she admitted that she wasn't scared about the move. It wasn't her idea, it was the Head of the Police department's. Her father was a murderer, Johnson believed that he would soon go after his daughter. He never understood why, Katherine was the only relative that he had. He murdered his entire family, one at a time, years a part so that no one would catch up to him. Once they did, he always got away, killing everyone he needed to in the process, that was something that Katherine didn't want to deal with. She was there for most of them, she had seen what had happened. She wouldn't dare tell the police, she didn't want to end up in jail for the rest of her life. This move wasn't going to be the easiest thing though, she had to change herself.

Her hair was usually blonde, but now it was a chestnut color that she loved, and brown-almost black eyes. Her father had the same sole-less eyes. She didn't think about it much, however, occasionally looking in the mirror, she would see her fathers features in her own. It scared her to death. She shook her head and walked out of the little home that she had. She lived there alone, something that was usually illegal, however, her eighteenth birthday was just a few months away. She and Johnson had planned it out, and she wouldn't be known to the authorities. They had dorm's on the school campus, however that would be the first place that he would look, a cabin out in the woods wouldn't come to his mind first. Hopefully. Slamming the door shut to her black Dodge Ram truck, she started her truck and made her way to the school. She found a parking spot with ease, it was close enough to the entrance, and hopefully the main office. Climbing out of her truck, she locked the door before heading inside.

Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself. Looking around at the school, it was beautiful, clean and looked ancient. The beauty captivated her, causing her to stare at everything in awe. She was soon taken out of her amazement and jolted back to reality. A blonde haired male ran right into her, causing her to almost fall to the ground. Shaking her head, she watched the male, not even apologize, and he walked into the first classroom on the left. '_This is a great start_.' She thought to herself. Chances were, that she would never see him again, hopefully. She began looking around for the office, which she found with ease. Opening the door, she saw a wooden desk, with a computer on top. No one, however, was sitting in the empty grey chair. Looking around the small area, she found a red chair to sit on while she waited.

It wasn't long before an older lady walked out of the door behind the desk. Her red hair was short, it came to her shoulders. Her eyes were green, the black frames of her glasses brought them to Katherine's attention. "Can I help you?" She asked. Mrs. Keyton, read the name tag on her desk. Katherine looked up and gave her a little half smile.

"I'm Katherine Sweeney, I just moved here from San Francisco." She stated, Johnson told her that'Sweeney' would be her new last name, in order to protect her from her father. The lady at the desk nodded. The silence in the room was thick, it disappeared as soon as the keys on her keyboard started clicking. She looked at the screen and nodded her head. Katherine looked at her curiously. Mrs. Keyton soon got up and went back into the door behind her desk. Katherine looked puzzled, it wasn't soon before she reappeared with a uniform in her hand. She stared at the material in disgust. She did not sign up for this.

"Here is your uniform and your schedule, The bathroom is the last door on your right, and your first class is the first door on your left. Have a nice day." She said with a light smile. Katherine stared at the uniform, now in her hands. She grabbed her belongings and headed to the bathroom. Locking herself in her stall, she changed into her uniform that fit perfectly. She walked out to her truck and put her old clothing inside of it. Walking back into the school, she walked to the first door on the left. This was it, there was no backing down after this. She would be a different person, no one would know her. She would have to find a way to blend in, taking a deep breath, she walked inside.

As soon as the door opened, all eyes stared at me. There wasn't a single face that She didn't see. Even the teacher looked at me. She walked over to him and gave him her class schedule. He nodded. "Class, this is Katherine Sweeney." They didn't say a word. She found the closest seat that she could to the front, sadly, it was three rows up, next to a blonde girl. She pulled out her notebook and a pen, and began to take noted on Steven King. "As I was saying. Tomorrow we will be watching Pet Sematary to compare the movie and the novel. I hope you have all finished that." The entire class groaned in disgust. Katherine just stated at her teacher. Out of all of the movies to watch, that was the one he chose, in her opinion, that was the worst one.

"I thought we agreed on 'Dreamcatcher.'" Said a voice from behind her. Looking up, she saw the blonde male from earlier. At least he didn't have horrible taste in movies. She watched as he leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest and placing his feet on the counter in front of him. Katherine stared at the male, that was no way to sit anywhere. She could have said something but she chose not to, letting her old ways get the best of her.

"I believe that you, Mr. Garwin, had suggested 'Dreamcatcher'. But since we have already read Pet Sematary, we will be watching that movie." Katherine looked at the male who didn't get his way. He didn't move from his position. The blonde girl next to Katherine leaned over to him.

"You'll get used to these two arguing, well the blonde always arguing. I'm Sarah. I was the new kid before you came here. Don't worry, I'll help you" Sarah said to her. Katherine gave her a little half smile. This was reassuring to her.

"Thanks. That makes me feel better." Katherine responded. She heard the teacher say to get out your books and read. She leaned back in her chair, having already read the book that book. She placed her things back in her bag and rested her head in her arms. From behind her, she heard the simple tearing of paper, the crumpling of paper then she felt something hit her head. She turned around and saw the blonde male staring at her, smiling. His smile reminded her of the cheshire cat, they mysteriously eerie grin. This made Katherine feel uncomfortable, she quickly turned and faced away from the male.

Soon she heard the same noises she heard a few seconds ago, the crumpling of paper, and the paper hitting my head. "What?" She asked him angrily. He was leaning farther over the desk now. He smirked at her. He was closer to her face than he was a few seconds ago.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see how sexy your voice was when your angry." Katherine's eyes went as wide as they could. She turned around in her chair quickly. Waiting for the bell to ring. Soon her wish was granted. As soon as she heard it, she shot up and headed out of class. On her way out she could faintly hear the blonde girl, Sarah saying something to the blonde.

"Way to go Reid you asshole." That was the last thing that she heard before Katherine was out of the class. Dodging the people walking through the hallways was easy compared to her old school. You could barely move there. Her next class was foods, something that was simple. She showed her teacher her schedule and she nodded. Katherine took a seat, and was surprised when Sarah showed up and sat down next to her. "I'm sorry you'll have to excuse my friend. He is really nice once you get to know him. But sometime he is just an ass." Sarah explained as Katherine nodded. She didn't know what to say, this was all new to her. At home, everyone at school was frightened of her, they thought that by knowing her, her father would kill them.

"It's fine" She responded to her. The two began talking, it was almost as if they had known each other for years. Sarah had transferred here earlier on this year, she had had one previous friend that had been a girl, but she transferred out. After their food's class, it was time for their break. She had calculus after break then lunch. She and Sarah sat out front, in Katherine's car, She had offered to drive into town and get food, but Sarah had denied. The two both had one more class left to go.

"You should meet us at Nicky's tonight. We are all gonna go there, and you'll get to meet the guys. Even though Reid will be there, you'll have fun I promise." Sarah said to her as she showed Katherine to her last class of the day. Katherine was hesitant, she wanted to meet new people, actually be friends with others, but she didn't know how she would act around a big group of people. It was worth a shot.

"Sure, that sounds great." Katherine said with a smile. Sarah smiled and Katherine swore she saw her jump slightly.

"Thank you!" Sarah said. "Well, I'll text you the address, I'll see you later!" With that, she left, leaving Katherine alone to walk into the classroom. She did her usual ritual, handing the teacher the note. She was actually excited about this class, it was the one class she picked to take. Photography. She sat down and pulled out her camera from her bag. She leaned back in her chair, waiting for the class to start. Once it did, the teacher began talking about their photo story project. They were to choose someone, or something that they could take different photos of each week. Katherine immediately thought of Jake. That is what she would do her project on. She always took photos of her Siberian Husky. She slyly began to look at he photos of Jake. That was all that was on her camera. None of anyone else, that is what she thought. Until, she landed on a photo of her father, and Jake. Her eyes went wide for the second time that day as she stared at the photo. Katherine hated herself because she looked like her father, shaking her head she quickly deleted the photo. She let out a sigh of relief just as someone sat down next to her. It was the blonde.

She took one look at him and didn't look at him until the final bell rang. She placed her camera back into her purse. Looking around the classroom, it was empty the only person left in it was the blonde. She placed her purse on her shoulder, and began to exit the classroom. A warm hand grabbed her shoulder, Katherine jumped and turned around. Automatically her hands went into fists, to defend herself. That may do her good here, if anything were to happen. Her hands would be useless against her father. The male soon let go of her arm. "I'm sorry about earlier." He said to her in a whisper. She looked up at him puzzled. She could see something in his eyes, something in them that said that there was more too him than his looks and his personality. Usually, she would let it go, but this was intriguing. He gave her a half smile and left the room, leaving Katherine puzzled.

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews! I love them all oh so very much! I dont own anything :(, but i do love reviews :)

Chapter Two

It wasn't long after Katherine got home, before she realized that she had to decide on what to wear tonight. Never having been in this position before, made it difficult for her. She kept repeating, going through her clothing in her closet. She must have gone through it a thousand times.

Jake was lying on her bed, he took up a good half of it. That had been another one of her requests, she wanted to have a King sized bed so that Jake could sleep on the same bed as her. He always would, even back home, he would sleep on her bed. Even though she would have to kick him off before she went to bed on her tiny twin sized bed.

Shaking her head, she went back to choosing an outfit. She had no idea why she was doing this. Putting herself through this, she grabbed the next shirt she could find. It was maroon. With a flowery overlay on top. She put on light skinny jeans and maroon colored flat shoes.

Walking over to her dresser, she grabbed her solid white gold butterfly necklace and placed it on. She held the necklace in her hands for a while. Remembering when her mother had given it to her. It was the day before her father had killed her, it was almost as if her mother knew that something would happen to her. Katherine shook her head, trying not to think about it. That was when her life went to hell. She was having a good start now and she was determined not to let that get in her way.

She jumped at the sound of her phone. It was way to quiet for her. She would need to get other things to add to her little tiny cabin. All she had inside was her bedroom, a living room with a fireplace and a tiny kitchen. It was home for now, she had forgotten about her phone ringing. She flew over to the bed and grabbed her ringing phone. It was either Johnson, or Sarah. She doubted that it was Sarah, "Hello?" She asked the familiar voice. She sat down on her bed and Jake rested his head in her lap.

"Riddle, how was your day?" Johnson asked her. She let out a sigh, it was the last person that she expected to call. She hoped not to hear from him, the only time that she wanted to hear from him is if it was bad news. Like if her father was free, she shuttered at the thought.

"It was fine, nothing extra special." She told him, and Jake barked, telling him that his day was fine also. She heard him chuckle into the phone.

"Thats good to hear, you'll be better off there than here." He stated, his voice getting quieter as his sentence went on. Katherine nodded her head.

"Yeah." She replied, knowing that he couldn't see her gestures. The two were silent on the phone for a few seconds, he said goodbye and hung up the phone. She set her phone down on the dresser and walked into her living room. Having no idea what Nickys would be like, she walked over to her little kitchen and grabbed a pot from beneath her and placed it on the stove. She took a step and crossed the kitchen, opening up the cupboard and grabbing a package of Ramen noodles and placed it next to the pot. She filled the pot with water and made her quick dinner.

Once it was finished, she ate it, staring at the fire place. She needed to make this place more her own, she would be living here for hopefully a long time. She needed a TV, she would have to ask around, figure out where to get one here. That would make this cabin much more pleasant although, she absolutely loved the fire. She found herself staring at it for hours sometimes, shaking her head, she finished her dinner and got up, placing the bowl in the sink to clean later.

Grabbing her purse from the counter next to the cabin door, She said goodbye to Jake and locked the door behind her. She began walking up the dirt road that lead to her home. A car was parked up there, She had explained to Sarah not to go down the road, unless you had a truck, you would get stuck on the ending road. There was another road in, but Katherine didn't know her that well, and didn't want her knowing the real entrance. She got into the grey car with her new friend. Sarah smiled at her, "When you said you lived in the middle of nowhere you really meant it, huh?" She asked and Katherine nodded her head.

"Yeah, it was the only place that I could find." Katherine lied, there was a place more in town that she fell in love with. She wasn't going to lie, it was a mansion, a beautiful old fashioned home. One that Johnson would have never gotten for her, so she settled with the next best thing. Sadly, it was the log cabin. Katherine wasn't complaining though, it was a place away from her father which she loved. That was her first priority. Thankfully, she accomplished that with her rugged home. Although, she was glad that there hadn't been much snow, so far. She was quite worried about the snow, and finding her way out in the snow. She didn't even know how to drive in it.

Watching the road, Sarah drove in the opposite direction than Spencer. Katherine watched the road carefully, learning where to go in the town. It was a short drive into town, an easily walkable distance. She would have to take Jake on a walk in the morning, and get a few things in town while she was there.

She made a left down a side street and turned into the first parking lot. In front of them sat an old wooden building, one that looked like it had been there for years. Sarah turned off her car and sighed. "Well, this is Nicky's" Sarah said to her and Katherine just looked at the place. The two got out of the car and headed inside. The place was absolutely packed, she followed Sarah towards a table in the back corner. There, sat two males. Katherine observed the people sitting around the table. One male had short dark brown hair and brown eyes, the other male had longer brown hair and green eyes. She watched Sarah walk over and kiss the cheek of the male with the shorter hair.

"Everyone, this is Katherine, she just moved here." Sarah explained, even though they all had the same English class, someone probably wasn't paying attention, so Sarah decided to introduce again. "This is Caleb, my boyfriend and Pogue." Katherine waved at them and they said their 'hellos'. Sarah sat down next to Caleb and Katherine sat next to her.

"How do you like it here so far, Katherine?" Caleb asked her. Katherine jumped slightly at the sound of her name. She had been staring up at the simple wooden wall next to where they were sitting. She shook her head, and turned and looked at him.

"I like it a lot. I haven't done much around town, but it's absolutely beautiful here." She explained to him and he nodded. He opened his mouth to speak but something behind her distracted him. She turned and looked to find the blonde male from earlier, Reid, and another male. He had dark brown hair and electric blue eyes. Katherine turned back around, and the two males took the other seats at the table. Of course, the blonde sat next to her. She did her best to ignore him, but what he had said earlier was still fresh in her mind. There was something that he was hiding from the other people at the table, she had heard Sarah call him an ass, but somehow Katherine knew that there was more to him than just being an ass.

"Thats good to hear." Caleb said to me, ignoring his friends that sat silently next to Katherine. She nodded her head slightly. The table was completely silent for a few moments. Katherine looked back and forth at everyone at the table, clearly she had missed something that was going on. Something must have happened before she had come here. " Thats Reid and Tyler," He said quickly, so fast that she almost didn't catch Tyler's name. "So, have you thought of where you want to go to school next year?" She shook her head. After what had happened this year, she hadn't even applied anywhere. She had completely forgotten about it. She didn't even want to answer his question, but it would be rude not to. Maybe she could talk to Johnson about that, she would have to do that as soon as she got home tonight.

"I've applied to a few places, Yale, University of Southern California, Berkley." She rambled off. She heard the blonde next to her laugh. She scrunched up her face and looked at him.

"I like her already." Reid stated. He smirked at her. Caleb glared at him. Katherine watched the two boys. "Fine be that way, Golden boy." He said. Without another word he got up and left the table, soon the other boy followed him.

"Sorry about them." He continued. Something was clearly wrong with the two, like they didn't get along. Katherine was puzzled about what had just happened, she felt as if she missed something between the two. She smiled at him, ignoring her concerns.

"I'm going to get something to drink, do you guys want anything?" Pogue asked everyone at the table. Caleb and Sarah asked for cokes and Katherine shook her head. Declining anything at the moment. He nodded and headed away from the table.

"Did I do anything wrong?" Katherine asked, Sarah smiled at her and Caleb shook his head.

"No you didn't. Reid and I haven't gotten along in a very long time. So don't worry about it." He explained, however, she somehow felt like she pushed him out. "He only says that because he knows that Sarah and I want to go to Harvard." She nodded her head. Pogue came back to the table and gave them their cokes. Katherine just sat there, occasionally, she would look over towards the pool tables. Reid and Tyler were playing pool. She hated it admit it, the blonde was extremely good looking. She cursed herself for thinking like that, however she couldn't help it. She looked back towards the table.

The three other people who were sitting at the table began to talk. Katherine got up and headed over to the bar. She didn't like others paying for her things, it was a pet peeve that she had. Especially when it was a complete stranger. Once she got to the bar, she ordered a coke and paid for it. She had to wait a few minutes, because the moment she chose to arrive at the bar, so did everyone else. A male came and stood next to her. She looked up at him, he had dirty blonde hair that went to just above his shoulders, and blue eyes. "Hey." He said to her smiling.

"Hi." She replied turning, trying to ignore the male that had just walked over to her. He looked over to the table where she had just been sitting.

"You shouldn't be hanging out with those losers." Katherine just looked at him. The bartender handed her her coke, and she went to move but she couldn't. The male stepped in front of her. He went to grab her hand, however someone had already grabbed it. She looked up and it was Tyler, the brunette who went to play pool. He dragged her off to the pool tables.

"That's Aaron, the number one rule is to ignore him. He is the biggest ass in town, treats girls horribly. He is someone that you don't want to be around." He said and she nodded. Katherine leaned up against the railing, taking a sip of her coke.

"I'm Katherine, by the way." She said to him and he nodded. He picked up the pool stick and began to play against Reid, who hadn't even noticed that she was there, watching them play pool. She had always been horrible at pool. She watched the game for a few moments, before the blonde walked over to her.

"So Katherine, how are you enjoying the sucky town of Ipswich." He asked. She took another sip of her coke.

"It isn't that bad." She explained, it was a lot better than being at home, but then again, everything was better then being at home. The month that she had lived at home, after her mother died, the police had swarmed her home. There was constantly people coming in and out of the home. Johnson always stayed with her, he was her only friend at home.

"Seriously, you aren't gonna give me that shit are you? Did Sarah brainwash you?" He asked. Katherine just stared at him, this was extremely different than how he had acted before, after photography. Just as he finished that sentence, Sarah showed up.

"I saw that Aaron was talking to her, I came by to make sure he didn't scare her to death." She said with a little chuckle. Reid folded his arms across his chest.

"Cause you actually did something about it." He said and she glared at him.

"You didn't either! You made Tyler go get her. You need to stop making other people do your work for you." She said. "Come on." Sarah said turning to Katherine. She just stood there, not knowing what to do. Part of her wanted to stay with Reid, something was telling her that he was just acting like an ass around his other friends. Katherine, chose to go with Sarah. Once they got back to the table, Sarah grabbed Caleb for a dance, Pogue was already out on the dance floor with a girl. Katherine immediately hated her decision for leaving the pool tables. At least she had people to talk to.

Meanwhile, Tyler was staring at Reid. "What is your problem?" Reid finally asked him. His friend finished his shot and leaned against his pool cue.

"What? I don't have a problem." Of course, that was Reid's constant response, wanting no one to be apart of his life, know whats going on with him.

"Yes, you do your just to stupid to realize it." Tyler said to his friend. Reid looked at him, almost as if he already knew what Tyler was going to say. "You like her don't you?" He stated and Reid stared at him.

"No I don't." He said. Tyler shook his head.

"Fine, since you wont admit it. Ill help you realize it." He said and took off towards the table where Katherine sat.

Katherine jumped at the sound of her name. She looked up and Tyler was standing behind her. "Want to dance?" He asked her. She turned around and looked at him, he was sweet, she could tell that. She smiled and stood up.

"Sure." She said. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. The two danced along for a while. She couldn't help but smile. He spun her round in circles and danced with her, she smiled. She was having so much fun. She didn't want this night to end, for the first time in her life she felt like she belonged. He was nice and friendly, he made her laugh and smile. Once a slow song came on, she began to walk away. Tyler grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. The two danced slowly, she watched Sarah and Caleb. The two looked perfect together, she had her head rested on his shoulder. She looked at Katherine and Tyler, she smiled at them.

"I have a feeling your gonna like it here." Tyler said to her and she nodded. She was beginning to get that feeling too. She had never gotten along with her parents, but that was besides the point. She never really felt like she belonged anywhere special, until now, and she actually liked that feeling. She smiled up ant Tyler.

"Yeah I have that feeling too." She replied to him. She looked to her left and saw the last thing that she was expecting. Reid, staring at her and Tyler dancing. He looked pissed. She gave him a confused look, and he didn't move. He just stood there, after a few seconds, she watched him leave the bar. She looked back up at Tyler. "Whats wrong with Reid?"

"Nothing, He probably just realized something that he didn't want to." Tyler explained, Katherine was completely confused. Once the song was over, she walked back over to the table. Sara soon followed her.

"You and Tyler looked pretty cozy." She said and Katherine just nodded and shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess." Sarah looked at her as if she was in disbelief. She shook her head.

"I think Tyler is perfect for you." She stated, however Katherine was focused on something that was happening across the bar. It was Reid and Tyler. Reid looked pissed at whatever Tyler was telling him. Katherine soon nodded her head, trying to ignore what part of her wanted to shake her head and deny what Sarah had said to her.

"I think i'm going to get going." Katherine stated, Sarah looked at her like she was crazy. It seemed like Sarah wasn't ready to go. "I'll walk, it isn't that far of a walk."

"No its fine." Sara argued.

"No, i'll be fine." Without another word, Katherine left the building. She took one step outside, and realized that this was her worst decision ever. For a second, she had forgotten that she wasn't in California, it must have been around 30 degrees out side, if not lower. However, she wasn't going to run back into the bar, it wasn't how she was.

Katherine began her journey to her place. She was walking walking slowly, yet she wanted to get home and not freeze in the process. If Johnson knew about this, he would kill her. Her father wouldn't have to, that was something that made her freeze. She knew that her father was locked up, but what if he had escaped and came after her. How did she know that she was here? She wouldn't have a clue. Faster, she continued to walk.

All of a sudden a car came down the street and came slowly up next to her. Katherine's eyes went wide, her father was here to kill her. The window of the car rolled down. She wasn't paying any attention. "Get in the car." The voice yelled. She looked towards the car, it was Reid. She shook her head and continued on her way. He drove next to her. By this point she was absolutely freezing, "Come on Katherine." He said just as the wind began to pick up. She looked at him, and finally got into the car. He rolled the window up. "Are you crazy? You could die!" He said to her, she just nodded her head. He turned on the heater full blast.

"Thanks Reid." She said and she watched him smile slightly and shake his head.

"It's no problem." He replied. She gave him directions to go where Sarah had picked her up, however he refused. "You are not walking anywhere tonight, besides are you crazy? You live out in the middle of nowhere." She looked at him, and he looked back at her.

She sighed, "Your gonna get your car dirty." He looked at her with that 'I don't care' and let him drive a mile up the road then had him drive down the dirt road. He drove all the way down to her house, Jake began to bark. "Thanks for the ride Reid, I really appreciate it." She said to him with a smile.

"No problem." He said with a smile. She got out of the car and watched him drive away. She watched him leave, wondering if she should have given him the actual route to her home. She shrugged her shoulders, it was too late now. Katherine walked into her home, and smiled at the warmth. Locking herself in, she changed into her warm pajamas and laid down on her bed with Jake next to her, keeping her warm, she fell asleep.


End file.
